Rice food lettering

This is another example of possible part of my title for my article titled "The colour of food". I really like this design as it doesn't appear too forced and structured, it has a more free feel to it which I feel works.

Possible part of title for colour of food article

Here I produced the word "food" out of marshmallows, as a way of reflecting the meaning of the word in the typography of the word itself. I am pleased with the way it has come out, as it looks bold and colourful, yet also fun.

10 easy steps to transforming your old jeans into shorts article

1)       Making sure your jeans have been washed and are free of any dirt, try them on and mark using a white pencil crayon for dark jeans, or a black pencil crayon for light jeans how long you want your shorts to be once finished.

2)       Take off the jeans and add 2-3 centimetres onto the mark you’ve just made, depending on how thick you want the turned over bottom hem to be, the larger the turned over hem, the more you have to add onto the initial mark.

3)       Iron your jeans to make sure all the creases have been ironed out so that the fabric will lie flat against the table surface.

4)       Lie your jeans down flat on a table and make sure they aren’t rumpled up. Pin both sides of each jean leg together along the lowest made mark. Make sure the pins are pinned in a perfectly horizontal line, and are equal lengths on each leg.

5)       Cut along the pinned line.

6)       Take out the pins and fold over the hem of each jeans leg 1-1.5cm depending on how many extra centimetres you added to the original mark.

7)       Iron the folded over hem of the jeans down flat, so that the bottom of the jeans stay folded down.

8)       Fold the bottom hem of the jeans over again the same amount so that you can no longer see the raw, cut edge of the jeans. Again iron in place, but this this time pin it down for extra security.

9)       Where the front and back sections of jeans material have been sewn together at the side, creating side seams, sew along the existing seam to keep the folded over hem in place, do this for the inside and outside leg side seam on both legs. Here you can use a sewing machine or hand sew, whichever you find easiest, however a sewing machine assures a stronger bond.

10)   Take out the pins and you now have your very own pair of shorts.

Alternatives to the gym article

Many people, students and young adults in particular, turn to the gym as their first port of call for exercising, thinking it’s the most convenient method of keeping active. However there are so many more ways you can exercise rather than going to the gym, and for a whole lot of a cheaper price as well.

Gyms can be very good if you want to bench press, or use specialist equipment that trains muscles that no other form of exercise does, but people need to open their eyes to all the different alternatives, such as jogging in a park, which you can do with friends, or alone, or even at the same time as taking your dog out for some exercise as well. This not only gets you out into the fresh air, but you can admire nature’s beauty as you run, instead of staring at a wall. When running at a park, you can also set yourself goals to reach that don’t involve numbers. For example you could set yourself a challenge when you feel like stopping to run to the next tree or bench, thus pushing yourself further, something that is more challenging to do when running on a treadmill.

When running in nature you also have such a broad variety of routes to choose from, or even make up your own and go cross country. The choice is endless. This also gives you a different experience when you run, instead of running in the same environment every time, stimulating your senses as well as your body, and making running a more enjoyable and pleasurable experience.

Of course exercise isn’t just running, you could go swimming at the local swimming pool, which is an excellent form of exercise for the whole body, not only making your heart healthier but toning your muscles as well, so your whole body is glowing.

If you want to bulk up, then circuit training could be the way forward for you, something that you can do in the confines of your own bedroom, or even at the park. You can devise your own circuit in a matter of minutes, adapting it to suit which muscles you want to work on the most, or whether you want a whole body work out. Increasing the repetitions of each circuit you do can help you build muscle up faster, and also make you work harder and improve your fitness. Circuit training is a great method if you don’t mind repeating the same action over and over again.

The great thing about the alternatives to going to the gym, with the exception of swimming, is that they are free, you don’t have to pay a penny to do them. Especially with the prices of tuition fee’s increasing and the cost of living becoming more expensive by the year, not going for the free option seems bizarre, especially with gym memberships being at an average of £35 not including the induction before you are allowed to use the equipment, which although is a one off payment can sometimes be the same as a month’s membership. £30 can go a long way, that’s money for a night out, or a weeks’ worth of food shopping. So before you sign up to the gym, consider the alternatives first, you may just be surprised at how much you actually enjoy them.

The beauty of carbot sales article

Most people when they think of car boots sales, think of the left over, unwanted nick-knacks from some random persons house. Items that are half broken, dirty, or just not practical in the modern household. In many cases this stereotypical view of car boot sales in very accurate, but amongst all the rubbish and the tack, you can find some real gems, for a very appealing price.

Car boot sales are exceptionally good for books, as many households accumulate them over the years, especially children having grown up there, and as they grow into adults they no longer want their younger years books, so instead sell them at car boot sales. This is common amongst teenagers going off to university, couples buying their first house together, or families just getting rid of all their junk after countless Christmas presents from distant relatives they have already grown out of before they were received.

Normally book sellers at car boot sales don’t just have a few odd books, but boxes full of the things! On the surface they may all just look like naff books that came free in newspapers, or that were bought decades ago, but the key is to delve deep into these boxes, and somewhere amongst the pile you may find your new favourite book.

Of course car boot sales aren’t just massive book fares, you can find the most obscure things there if you’re lucky, what’s there one week probably won’t be there the next, which is what is so great about them. Every time you go you know for sure it’s not going to be the same stuff as last time.

Bargaining on price is a major aspect of car boot sales, as unlike high street shops, items don’t have a fixed price, so if you put on a stern face and take the domineering position between you and the seller, you can always get a good deal, and get more for your money. Remember to be assertive and firm and you’re pretty much guaranteed to get a cheaper price, whether that be £10 off or 50p off, every penny saved is a bonus.

You can also sell your unwanted items at car boot sales as well, which is a really great way of making a bit of extra cash to go towards whatever takes your fancy. It’s really easy to do, and anybody can do it; you don’t even have to have a car! All you have to do is find somewhere that holds car boot sales near to you, arrive early, pay for your spot which is usually no more than £10, so you’re sure to make the money back during the day, and remember to bring all your unwanted items to sell. It’s as easy as that to make a bit of money, you may even be surprised how much you make, every pound adds up at the end of the day.

Car boot sales sometimes aren’t all hunky dory happy chappy though, not everyone who sells is out to sell you something legitimate for a seemingly great price. Always check out the item before you buy it, for example, make sure there’s a DVD is in the case, and that it’s the right DVD and not scratched beyond repair, or make sure clothing items aren’t ripped or falling apart, or if you’re buying hardware, make sure it is fully functioning to the best of your ability, of course you can’t plug electrical items in at car boot sales so they are always a risky buy, but always thoroughly assess an item before handing over the money, as you can’t return items you bought from a car boot sale, so you’re stuck with it once you’ve bought it.

To get a full and extensive list of all the places that hold car boot sales, and all extra information, a really good site to use is www.carbootjunction.com and search for a location nearby you.

Remember to be firm yet realistic when charging buyers prices and when bargaining for an item, and get stuck in, don’t just browse over a stall, but rummage through it, you never know what may be lurking behind all the nick-knacks.

The colour of food article

Just like children, adults and the elderly alike appreciate food that is aesthetically pleasing, a little bit whacky, or even pure bonkers. Colour gives food its identity, it’s what draws us to it when we’re doing the weekly shop at Tesco or Aldi. The colour of food either makes it a huge success, or the most popular item in the reduced price section, left unwanted and unloved. Sweet foods are affected the most by their use of colour, green sweets and blue icing on top of fairy cakes, colour suits sweet food’s more due to it’s luscious, sweet taste, it needs such a rich colour to match its taste, and compliment it all the same.

Food colouring is a simple and cheap method of giving food colour, all you have to do is add a drop to your mixture, whether that be cake mix or rice in a saucepan, and voila, the food takes on a whole new colour. This can be great when making cakes for a charity cake sale, or for the next house party, as it will make your cakes stand out from everybody else’s, and who doesn’t love to see a multi-coloured cake? You can buy food colouring from your local supermarket, for as cheap as £1 a bottle, so there should be no excuse for boring cakes.

There are other ways of adding colour to food however, you can put other food products into the mixture, such as glacier cherries into muffins, white chocolate chips into cookies, pink marshmallows into brownies, or even, touching on the nutritious side, blueberries into muffins. This not only adds a delicious taste to the food, but also adds a splash of colour, brightening up the otherwise ordinary looking food product, making it look massively more aesthetically appealing, and even make it taste better, something different and yummy added to the mixture.

Of course you don’t have to add things to the mixture of cake for example, to add colour. Once the cakes are cooked and have been left to cool, you can decorate them with icing or sweets or even fruit, there’s nothing wrong with slices of banana on top of a fairy cake, or a Victoria sponge cake, to add a little treat to it. Hundreds and thousands are also a great, easy way to add colour to food. Sprinkling them on top of an iced brownie or fairy cake, for example, can create a sparkling or rainbow effect, and will entice people to want to try one, to see if they taste as good as they look.

Adding colour to food products, especially sweet foods such as cakes or cookies, is a really easy way of getting colour back into food, to make it eye catching, and also to encourage people to try it, to see if it lives up to its appearance in taste. Adding colour doesn’t have to be tricky or expensive, so even students can afford to make their food a colourful masterpiece.

Make a normal sponge cake just that bit more exciting with a splodge of icing and a few glacier cherries and marshmallows